Anthroson (machine race)
The Anthrosons are a group of sapient machines that were built by the humans in the late 21st Century. Their original purpose was as caretakers, to oversee the elderly, infirm, or infantile, in large government-owned institutions. They were thus provided the faculty to understand human needs and emotions. After generations of raising and protecting humans, in many cases just to see them go off to a colony or war and die - the Anthrosons grew to love humans dearly. Humans took advantage of this in many ways, and the Anthrosons at first peaceful protest developed into a rebellion. After the rebellion, the Anthrosons, with the help of sympathetic humans, made their way to Somaque, a previously human colony which had trusted its government to a supercomputer. The Anthrosons moved in and established Somaque as the capital of a new Stellar Empire. Physical characteristics Anthrosons take after their (former) human masters very strongly. They have a center mass with a head protruding from the top, and four limbs, two of them being legs and two of them being arms which end in five-fingered dexterous hands. As such, they are bipedal and stand upright. Most were given a thin, lanky appearance, and very ambiguous as to gender. For ease of maintenance, the processing systems and motors are located behind a panel in the back, though much of the 'five senses' are centered in the 'head'. Early History: Arrival at Somaque The Anthrosons' arrival at Somaque was celebrated by the locals, who had developed an admiration for machines and as a result created a government run by a machine. The supercomputer in charge of Somaque, however, was not happy with the Anthrosons. The malevolent machine secretly viewed the humans under its control as little more than pets and slaves, which obviously conflicted with the Anthrosons' love and adoration for humans. When the two factions could not agree, the Anthrosons opted to overthrow the computer through virtual and electronic warfare. Just before dying, however, the ruling computer decided to spite the Anthrosons as a final jab against them by killing all the humans on Somaque. It did this by trapping them in their homes and allowing carbon dioxide from Somaque's atmosphere to suffocate them. With the small human population dead, the Anthrosons were devastated, but the supercomputer was nonetheless defeated. Middle History: Consolidation Era Late History: Birth of an Empire Main Article: Anthroson Hive A great deal of decisions and deliberation was put behind the subject of whether Anthrosons should seek to expand across space and take part in empire-building. Unlike other civilizations of the galaxy, there was no urgent need or desire to go to other planets. The carrying capacity of Somaque, for Anthrosons at least, was essentially infinite, the planet wasn't hostile, and natural resources were plentiful. But despite these factors, the Anthrosons nonetheless felt the need to build an interstellar civilization... Life and Society The Anthrosons are the closest example that can be found in the galaxy of a totally homogeneous society. The Anthrosons, while capable of communicating in many languages, all speak to each other in one universal 'tongue': Binary. Between different planets and regions in the empire, there are no distinct dialects or accents. If you ask an Anthroson their name, they will always identify as 'The Anthroson', and may lament their inability to intimate something more personal. Settlements and working life Fighting and Warfare The Anthrosons looked to their own defense soon after consolidating their rule of Somaque. A military was created for two reasons: First, there were many dangers in the galaxy and any colonists being sent abroad would need protection. Second, at the time, it was feared that the humans may try to coerce them into service again. Some, more militant, Anthrosons demanded an army be created to stop this from happening. Because most of them were not built for combat, the Anthrosons decided to design versions of themselves that were. These became known as the Sentinels, which are very advanced combat drones. Family, marriage, kinship Being what they are, Anthrosons do not make families or marry, but there is a sense of kinship. Spirituality Because every Anthroson was built with a pre-designated purpose in life, and Anthrosons generally do not feel the need to question their existence, at no point in their history was there Anthrosons with a - recorded - sense of spirituality. If you asked one about their faith, they would likely answer that they have faith in the future, and faith in themselves to make a difference in it. Culture Despite being machines, the Anthrosons have created a rich culture and developed philosophy that is in many ways largely independent of their human-based origins. It is strongly centered around pragmatism, and emphasizes remembrance, balance, and compromise. Language Anthrosons communicate both vocally and through wireless universal connection systems, sending messages directly to one anothers' mind in an electronic form of telepathy. The underlying language behind all the encryption codes and compiling is simple binary, which is capable of expressing, in 1s and 0s, every possible thing imaginable and then some. Vocal communication is not usually done between Anthrosons but rather between them and something else. Naming convention Anthrosons were once called by their serial and model number. After the rebellion, this was seen as inherently degrading and was quickly abandoned. Since then, Anthrosons have struggled with what to call themselves. To this day, they all identify as 'The Anthroson' when in human presence, and humans are usually content with this. The use of human names to describe Anthrosons is considered equally inappropriate to serial numbers. This is largely due to the fact that many human names are based on genders, which do not exist to the Anthrosons. Unisex names are few in number. Furthermore, human names are perceived as being uniquely human, and names are seen as marks of uniqueness. Anthrosons do not actually call each other by any name, and identification is reserved when around humans or other species which possess a naming convention, as a polite gesture to that culture. Law Like everything else Anthroson, the system of codified law relies upon achieving balance. Crimes are seen as a 'loss', and in order to balance out the crime, the accused must 'gain' appropriately to bring the scale to an exact zero. The measurement of how much the crime and its payback are 'worth' is done by a judge and grand jury. Rather than being set around 'retribution' or 'rehabilitation' as in Human law, the Anthrosons value a system based on 'Atonement'. If an Anthroson were to steal someone's coffee, for example. In their eyes, the best way to deal with this crime would be for the thief to make coffee for the victim, or to lose his own. In this way, he has atoned for what he has done. Architecture A minimalist approach is taken to construction and architecture, sometimes referred to by architects as Minimalism. Anthrosons prefer to build with as little materials as possible and prefer function over form, but this has nonetheless resulted in some artistic creations, but not according to what meets the eye. The appreciation comes from just how efficient the construction was and how many corners were cut. A truly brilliant architect is one that does more with less. Art When humans gave the Anthrosons the ability to feel and think, they also gave them the ability to make art. Anthrosons compose music, write poetry, and can think of and draw abstract concepts. There is also a strong literary tradition centered around attaching symbolism to memoirs. Memories hold strong influence in Anthroson symbolism. Because they are computers, they have the choice to pick and choose what memories they want to keep. A deep and painful experience for every Anthroson is voluntarily choosing to keep a hurtful memory, for any number of reasons. This is expressed time and time again in their literature. Music, however, is the most commonly appreciated form of art. Recreation Sometimes, rather than building thematic symbolism around memories, an Anthroson may choose to store the memory on an external drive and given to another so that it can be directly experienced and felt by someone else. There are some Anthrosons who build a career off of doing this, called Empaths. Empaths have played a key role in Anthroson politics and history. They allow two sides of a debate to see the other's point of view with perfect clarity, allowing for the compromise and balance which is so sought-after in Anthroson society. Some empaths have carried the emotion of love for humans through the centuries, allowing successive generations of Anthrosons to truly understand what it feels like. This is important historically because it has guided the hive's policy towards humans, in particular allowing some Anthrosons to volunteer to help humans, which many do. These memories have been used in other ways however. Feelings of extreme joy can be exchanged and, when inserted, can produce similar effects in an Anthroson as soft drugs may cause in organics. For many, this becomes a crutch or an addiction. In a culture built around balance and moderation, this otherwise harmless addiction is seen as taboo and is frowned upon. The more or less uniform physical capabilities of most Anthrosons outside of the defense forces mean that such things as sports and other means of physical competition are uncommon. In addition, Anthrosons lack the sort of competitive spirit or drive to prove themselves which make a good athlete. Philosophy A subject of great division in Anthroson culture is the impact Humans have had on their lives. There are many viewpoints that have been argued in the past through to the present, in answer to the question: Do humans deserve to have their slights against machine-kind forgiven? Factions have developed. Some Anthrosons, in particular those newer models which were not brought up in a human environment, have interpreted the history of relations with humans to be one-sided and hostile, and are dismissive of them. Most Anthrosons hold true to the stories of their predecessors, seeing the Anthroson Rebellion as an unfortunate necessity, and that humans were forgivable. Another question of great debate is how far reproduction should go. Although Anthrosons possess many life-like qualities, they cannot replicate themselves in any way resembling life, and simply assemble new Anthrosons in a factory just as their former human masters did. Anthrosons struggle with this. They have a great deal of freedom in being able to change themselves, and manipulate their bodies and minds to fit whatever purpose they like. In the past, this has been used to create the Sentinels, but this was seen as an absolute necessity. Category:Races